Quiet Desperation

You feel the trigger twitch 
in determination
even though it’s still
a long way from
completing the cycle.
In a world divided by death
and reluctance,
the dichotomy of commitment is final.

“How old is your soul?”
the armadillo quietly asks
the hawk hunting
in downward spirals.
“Old enough to have tested
the emptiness of desperation,”
he woefully answers.
“Vital enough to resist
the consequences of change.”